Opportunities and Threats for Whole Food Market

Opportunities

Popularity of Organic Goods

There has been an increasing demand for organic goods. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. sales of organic food and beverages have grown from around $11 billion in 2004 to over $30 billion in 2013. Leading the growth in this area is fresh organic produce. Organic non-food sales grew 9.7 percent to yield $1.97 billion. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that there are over 25,000 certified organic operations in more than 120 different countries around the world (USDA Announces Growth, 2014). The United States holds over 74% of the certified organic operations. Last year, the sales of organic products valued at $35 billion.

The greatest demand for organic food is in the United States and Europe because they account for 90 percent of sales (Harris, 2013). After four years of contraction, the United Kingdom had an increase of sales of organic products by 2.8% (Soil Association, 2014). This rate of growth is more than their annual inflation rate of 2 percent. It was also found that in the UK 4 out of 5 households buy organic products and young shoppers are key to the growth of organic products. Also, catering and restaurant sales are up 10%, along with box schemes and home delivery up 11%. The push that is helping the growth in organic foods is the increasing awareness of how important it is to have natural foods in our diets.

Increase in Healthy Eating Habits

In the United States, working age adults are now adopting healthier eating habits. They are eating meals with less saturated fat, lower cholesterol and more fiber, and reading nutritional labels at the store. Due to the information that is available to us about healthy vs. unhealthy eating, consumers are able to make better decisions on what they eat. Documentaries and recent advertisements promoting the benefits of healthy and organic eating, helps to push new customers into Whole Foods Market. There has...